"I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees"

[d'Anconia]

You get where I am going with this...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4765058.stm

For starters, I don't quite take our President to be exactly representation of the right side of the spectrum.
Anyway, I could understand the President dealing with larger issues instead of smaller and more specific issues but the fact of the matter is that the broken levees caused a.) lots of damage, b.) lost lives of U.S. citizens, and c.) a lot of money to be spent on stuff that it did not need to be spent on.
I don't even like the idea that the citizens of NO were living there in the first place and want the rest of us to foot the bill for the damage BUT I don't see much of a way for anyone to defend the President on this one.

As President of the United States it is his sworn duty to help protect the American people and he absolutely failed this time to do it. Has the integrity of the office of the President gotten so low that it's okay for them to just blatantly lie to the public about this sort of thing? Where is his responsibility? As far as I'm concerned, a lot of those deaths and wasted money and property are on his hands.

[MixmasterNash]

Give me a break. It was only the 3rd most critical, identified national vulnerabilty, not the first or second.

But seriously, NO is a pretty vital port for trade and energy (like, for the entire mid-west), to say nothing of culture and the inherent value of a half-million people. And people in So. Cal will cry for help when the big earthquake hits and people in NYC want help when terrorists attack and Iowans want help when it floods. And we give it, gladly, because that's what a country does for itself; otherwise, there is no reason for that country to exist.

[estropes]

I don’t know, maybe if the local government would have used the federal funds to upgrade the levy’s like they were supposed to instead of pissing the money away it wouldn’t have been breeched…just a thought!

[BigCorey75]

Everything that happened in NO, no matter how you look at it is ****ed up, yeah the storm was very unfortunate (and i want to slap every single individual who blames Bush for the Hurricane, and im not even a fan of Buch)


but even worse that the storm was the slow response, and now we see that they had the info that the levees would be breached, then on top of that the slow response, alot of people died and didnt have to.


I really hop to see NO back up on its feet once again

[Tryska]

i have jsut one question....

would things have gone down the same way if it were a terrorist attack?

if yes, then what the hell happenned to all that money that went to homeland security?

if no, then why not?

[ArchAngel777]

It is all Bush's fault! I heard he was testing his nuclear weapons out in the gulf and caused a shift in the plates that caused this storm! I heard he did it without authorization and the CIA and government is covering this up for him. He wanted to test out to see if he could wipe nations out with natural disasters! He succeeded is wiping out NO! ZOMG! ZOMG! ZOMG! He forgot that NO was actually a part of the USA!

This is the biggest cover up in the history of anything in the entire world and only I know of it and I am passing on this information! Remember, you heard it from me first.

[d'Anconia]

It's not even that I think it's Bush's fault that Katrina happened. It's that he blatantly lied to the public to try to save his own ass and easily had the power to save a lot of damage and deaths from occuring. It's his responsibility to protect the American people and he failed to do that.

[mrelwooddowd]

I would blame Ray Nagin before I blame Bush.

[mrelwooddowd]

And let's not pretend ANYONE was prepared to deal with a flooded metropolis...

[MixmasterNash]

And let's not pretend ANYONE was prepared to deal with a flooded metropolis...

Why not? What have we been doing for the past 5 years? Why have we spent hundreds of billions of dollars on "homeland security," and yet we are unable to prevent the single most likely catastrophic issue that was completely predicted?

Also: Why are you making excuses for the failures of government?

[mrelwooddowd]

Why not? What have we been doing for the past 5 years? Why have we spent hundreds of billions of dollars on "homeland security," and yet we are unable to prevent the single most likely catastrophic issue that was completely predicted?

Also: Why are you making excuses for the failures of government?

I didn't say they shouldn't have been preparing for it--which goes back to Nagin. It's his city..it's his responsibility.

I can't help making excuses for the stupid..

[BilltheButcher]

Why not? What have we been doing for the past 5 years? Why have we spent hundreds of billions of dollars on "homeland security," and yet we are unable to prevent the single most likely catastrophic issue that was completely predicted?

Also: Why are you making excuses for the failures of government?

What happened to the federal money New Orleans has been getting? I understand the buck stops with the President, but how can he micromanage every little thing. You have to depend on the local and state governments, they are the ones that see the levees everyday, they have to know the conditions better then anyone. Instead of screaming racism and crying on TV, maybe they should have taken some responsibility for their shortcomings. Ooops thats right the media can't comprehend anyone beside evil Bush, don't you think it is getting old that the news can't do anything but bash Bush. If he was against the Port deal, he would have been seen as a racist and not building bridges w/ our arab friends. However, since he is for it, he isn't worried about national security. The media has made such a huge deal about this, that everyone jumped ship to protect their own asses.

Is Bush perfect no, is he a good president, not really, is he to blame for every F-ing thing that goes wrong in teh world, acording to Newsweek, the NY times and CCN yes. Why isn't anyone bashing the media darling Clinton for trying to help the Port deal go through? You hear it once and catch it on the fourth page of the news paper.

[MixmasterNash]

I didn't say they shouldn't have been preparing for it--which goes back to Nagin. It's his city..it's his responsibility.

I can't help making excuses for the stupid..

Indeed, the city is primarily the responsibility of the city. However, I am not a citizen of New Orleans, so I can't force change at the local (or state level). The only level of government that was involved that is accountable to me is the federal government, so I concentrate all of my complaints there. All citizens of the area must hold their local governments accountable, but I am in no position to do so.

However, you overlook a significant fator: The hurricane was much too large to be handled at the local or even state level. This is why the federal government exists: to deal with signficant issues such as national security that a state cannot handle. Furthermore, the federal incompetence was spread across a number of states as well.

And forget the "blame Bush" strawman. No one is blaming Bush for the hurricane. We are blaming him for messing up the federal response, for which he is ENTIRELY responsible as the head of the executive branch of government, and both Bush and Congress for the poor preparation and structures, for which they are entirely responsible. And given that the Republicans control both branches and have been for a number of years, they are ENTIRELY responsible for the piss poor federal response.

[Genacide]

... Bush is to blame for the mistake to my taxes this year because he is the head of the executive branch of government, and both Bush and Congress for the poor preparation and structures, for which they are entirely responsible. And given that the Republicans control both branches and have been for a number of years, they are ENTIRELY responsible for the piss poor federal response.

- you know, as long as he is micromanaging

[mrelwooddowd]

Indeed, the city is primarily the responsibility of the city. However, I am not a citizen of New Orleans, so I can't force change at the local (or state level). The only level of government that was involved that is accountable to me is the federal government, so I concentrate all of my complaints there. All citizens of the area must hold their local governments accountable, but I am in no position to do so.

However, you overlook a significant fator: The hurricane was much too large to be handled at the local or even state level. This is why the federal government exists: to deal with signficant issues such as national security that a state cannot handle. Furthermore, the federal incompetence was spread across a number of states as well.

And forget the "blame Bush" strawman. No one is blaming Bush for the hurricane. We are blaming him for messing up the federal response, for which he is ENTIRELY responsible as the head of the executive branch of government, and both Bush and Congress for the poor preparation and structures, for which they are entirely responsible. And given that the Republicans control both branches and have been for a number of years, they are ENTIRELY responsible for the piss poor federal response.

The only way to truly learn, is to fail..

You need a hobby.

[MixmasterNash]

you know, as long as he is micromanaging

What do you not get about the chain of command?

[MixmasterNash]

The only way to truly learn, is to fail..

You need a hobby.

Well, Bush should be a learned genius by now, then.

My hobby is not being happy with incompetence. The rest of the country seems to be catching on, albeit 4-5 years too late.

[Genacide]

What do you not get about the chain of command?

Surely I can't blame the local government, or even the state government, I want to go right to the top with my blame. .. and look who is at the top.. It just happens to be President Bush.

The levees failing... Bush's fault
The response afterwards... Bush's fault
The response to people complaining about the response... Bush's fault
Some people just want to pass the Buck (Nagin, and the governor)

I frankly blame Bush for the high price of Beef. After all he is from Texas!



- even a insane man can make a good point in his ramblings

[MixmasterNash]

Surely I can't blame the local government, or even the state government, I want to go right to the top with my blame. .. and look who is at the top.. It just happens to be President Bush.

The levees failing... Bush's fault
The response afterwards... Bush's fault
The response to people complaining about the response... Bush's fault
Some people just want to pass the Buck (Nagin, and the governor)

I frankly blame Bush for the high price of Beef. After all he is from Texas!



- even a insane man can make a good point in his ramblings

Oh geez, you're right! I blame Osama for DHS's crappy performance. And Saddam is responsible for putting an incompetent horse trader in charge of FEMA. Bush is entirely blameless, and surely has neither the authority nor responsibility for anything in the executive branch of government.

[Genacide]

Oh geez, you're right! I blame Osama for DHS's crappy performance. And Saddam is responsible for putting an incompetent horse trader in charge of FEMA. Bush is entirely blameless, and surely has neither the authority nor responsibility for anything in the executive branch of government.

Ahh, now who is forgetting the chain of command. Saddam doesn't work for Bush, or Bush for Saddam.

.... it also sounds like someone has issues with horse traders, lets explore this further...

[MixmasterNash]

Ahh, now who is forgetting the chain of command. Saddam doesn't work for Bush, or Bush for Saddam.

They heck they don't. What kind of conspiracy theorist are you???

[Genacide]

In my conspiracy theory Hilary Rodam Clinton is actually Hilary "Rod like a man" Clinton. Also John Kerry is actully Frankenstein, I swear I saw the bolts in his neck once.

[ArchAngel777]

In my conspiracy theory Hilary Rodam Clinton is actually Hilary "Rod like a man" Clinton. Also John Kerry is actully Frankenstein, I swear I saw the bolts in his neck once.

LOL

[mrelwooddowd]

Well, Bush should be a learned genius by now, then.

I won't disagree with this one for a second.

[d'Anconia]

I don't even care *that* much about the response to the hurricane except for the warning about the levees. He was warned by several people that the levees could cause a major problem and they were all looking up to him just waiting for him to say something, just anything. All he had to say was like "Ok well let's do something about it", but instead he doesn't say a thing except "we are fully prepared...". Obviously he was wrong.

All he had to do was take responsibility for his miscalculation but instead he decided to go the spineless and irresponsible route and deny that he even made a mistake. I'm pretty sure that's what us people like to call a "coward".

I don't even care about the other mistakes right now, I just don't want a coward and liar in the oval office and it looks like his approval rating is showing that others agree with me on this one.